365 Days of Gratefulness

Attention all Kindness Challenge Participants!

The speaker in this video mentions starting his day by asking who he’ll be thankful for that day and what for. I can relate because after almost 5 weeks of hosting and participating in the Kindness Challenge and my personal journey to live a more gentle life, I start each day asking “how I can show kindness?”. That thought stays with me throughout the day creeping up on me when I least expect it, popping in my head when I need it most, and more often than not resulting in kind actions without having to think about it.

As you watch this video, think about who or what you can be grateful for each day. By focusing on the things you are thankful for, you’re focusing your attention on the good things in your life and that will have a positive impact on your mood and influence your day.

I think Brian amplifies his gratitude by voicing it to the person he’s thankful for whether it’s in person or not. That in itself seems like an act of kindness to me. I can’t imagine how those 365+ people that he thanked felt when he unexpectedly voiced his appreciation for them for no other reason than being thankful.

Who’d be the first person you’d thank? What would it feel like? Would it be easy, awkward, exciting, nerve-wrecking? What is something that you’re thankful for right now? Did you practice gratitude daily before the Kindness Challenge? Do you think you’ll start practicing gratitude daily? What are your thoughts on this video? Feel free to share, I’d love to hear!

14 Replies to “365 Days of Gratefulness”

What great questions. I think I would thank my mom if I could. She passed away before we were able to fully experience healing and restoration in our relationship. When I look back as an adult I can see that she suffered from depression and felt trapped in a toxic relationship. I would thank her for baking bread with me and helping me pick tulips for my 1st grade teacher.

I did not practice gratitude every day before the challenge, but did many days. In our family devotional time we often try to go around the circle and share something we are thankful for. My goal is to practice gratitude daily and be more attuned to the myriad of daily blessings that I overlook.

I agree, depends on the person and the relationship. My first thought was, do I even know 365 people?! It’s an interesting topic. The impact it has on the other person is what I was acutely aware of while watching the video especially when he gives the example towards the end about David. That makes me more mindful to be sure to say thank you to people. One group of people that came to mind is the people that I receive service from-in stores, restaurants, customer service agents on the phone. Many of those positions are thankless and as much as we want to receive good customer service they are people too. I realize it’s my responsibility as a customer to not only treat them kindly but with gratitude because maybe the person or situation they dealt with before me wasn’t pleasant and by being courteous and simply thanking them for their help in a sincere way might just make it a little easier to get through their shift.

Aww Cymbrie thank you for sharing. I’m sorry you weren’t able to complete that process before she passed away. I love that she’s still the first person on your list! What beautiful things to be thankful for! What memories from such a young age that are still very present with you when you think about her. Expressing those things is almost a form of healing in a way. Thank you for sharing ❤

In a similar line, I set myself a good deeds challenge a while ago, to do one good deed a day for a year, I loved the challenge and I went on to do it for 2 years, blogging about it weekly, extremely good for the soul!

So you’ve been doing a personal kindness challenge for quote some time now! I didn’t consider myself unkind before but since participating in the Kindness Challenge I’m hosting I must say I’m much more aware of the small opportunities I have to be kind and it makes my good days even better! I wake up with thoughts of gratitude and the next thing that passes through my mind is what opportunities will I have to be kind today? Such a positive way to start my day that has made such a difference in my life! Thank you for sharing that Rosie 🙂

You’re welcome Niki, I started my challenge when I read a book (no surprises there!) it was called “A Year of Doing Good” by Judith O’Reilly, now that woman WAS an inspiration. My own good deeds were much smaller, like baking cakes, picking up litter, writing thank you letters, offering to be the designated driver for a night out, those type of things. Judith’s book is well worth reading.

I’d never guess that’d be your source of inspiration 😉 I’ll have to check it out. Though the deeds you do may be “little” or on a smaller scale, it’s not indicative of its value. Those are wonderful things to do and such a great way to live your life. Those are things that people will think of when you cross their mind ❤

Gratitude has become a daily part of my life, intentionally speaking,ever since I started my gratitude Journal, incidentally I was on a Radio programme today, centred around showing gratitude. A Thankful heart creates a beautiful ambience.

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